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Promotion Of Human Value 
- Spandan Bhattarai - 21127, Gr ... 12 August, 2020

Why are we still being led by hearts of stone rather than hearts of love? Do our leaders reflect our own lack of values?  Perhaps.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           -Dalai Lama

Before starting to talk on this topic, we must know what ‘human values’ mean. Human values are the virtues that guide us to take into account the human elements such as respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation, listening, openness, affection, empathy, and love towards others when we interact with each other. The 14th  Dalai Lama (religious name: Tenzin Gyatso), advocates the cultivation of warm-heartedness and human values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, and self-discipline. Neglecting these values will surely prevent the world from getting to a place of peace and understanding. His holiness is concerned with encouraging people to be happy, helping them to understand that if their minds are upset, less are the physical comforts. 

He said that secular ethics is rooted in scientific findings, common experience, and common sense and can be smoothly integrated into any nation’s education system. Religious fundamentalism, which lacks these basic human values, creates a hostile environment between us and them eliminating tolerance and hope for peace. He spoke about the experiments scientists have conducted on young infants. He set up situations in which one gives help and/or hinders it or obstructs it and aided the example of help and setting up our status as social animals whose survival depends upon others giving the concept of community and feel that fosters along with it such as love and affection also the feeling that destroys the concept of a community like anger and jealousy that creates distance and separation between the people by harvesting a sense of concern so that we can learn to use our intelligence practically. 

Among the seven billion people alive in the world today, 1 billion of them believe that they have no such beliefs. His holiness put on a saying that the question is how to educate such people to believe in love and compassion and also suggested that adopting a secular approach that expresses unbiased respect for all the religions and even for the people who affirm no faith. His holiness even stated that the people who engage in love, compassion, warm-heartedness show a drastic decrease in stress and blood pressure and there is a significant increase in social interaction with people around them and used this as an example that it is possible to educate people on the basis of scientific findings, common experience, and common sense. “Graduating with a formal education won’t guarantee happiness, but committing to finding inner peace will have the greatest influence on life”, he said. The Nobel Peace Prize winner is known to insert religion and Indian values into his approach to the world and has often brought it upon his speech. Reminding people that being happy, satisfied in life can grow in a healthy way. Although it wouldn’t be easy, it could be reached with determination, optimism, and willpower.

In the afternoon of 22nd of November, 2014, when his holiness was invited to address a meeting held by an independent, non-profitable organization, Ananta Aspen Centre, he outlined his own three commitments. First, he talked about the promotion of human values as a source of happiness and physical health, saying that the main source of happiness is the mind and also brought into attention that our lives begin with our mother’s care and affection and as social animals, it is care and affection that brings all the people together.

He described his second commitment as the promotion of inter-religious harmony, taking international figures like Mother Teresa, whose dedication to benefit the community by helping the poor and needy as an expression of their faith. He even said that religions may have different perspectives but at last, they all share the same common goal that is to maintain peace between all the living beings.

Acknowledging that he is Tibetian and many Tibetians have placed their trust upon him while being wholly retired from politics,  he clings onto a concern for flourishing the Tibetian culture as it is a culture of peace, non-violence, and compassion. He said that the concern for Tibet also extends to its natural environment, noting that a billion people across Asia are dependent on the water that flows from Tibet’s rivers. As human beings, we all need to take responsibility for creating a better world and more peaceful humanity.

He said that secular ethics is an approach to inner values that does not disturb or come as an obstacle to the concept of god or religious tradition and even called it an appropriate approach for those who don’t value any type of religious traditions or spiritual beliefs and does not mean any disrespect or distance from any religion but is an approach where he can bring people following different religions to help the humankind to achieve a single that is to maintain peace with every people in the community. Love, compassion, forgiveness, and kindness are not religious values but are human values. With the people of the world being one whole family, the people here cannot remain indifferent. We have created these problems and we must make new efforts with different ideas and vision and it is our responsibility to change that problem. 

His Holiness elaborated on his thoughts about secular ethics, the importance of human values such as compassion, kindness and also talked about changes taking place in China and the fact that the people in the world depend on each other on how we exert ourselves. He said that exploring to find the source of happiness is within us and we just need a map of emotions and feelings to find it. We must develop a sense of emotional hygiene and understand how to manage our emotions. How to counter negative emotions and cultivate positive emotions and it is the only way to find peace within and save humankind for good.


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A Dive Into The Universe
- Riya Jha - 21134, Grade XII o ... 11 August, 2020

Ever wondered to measure the winds of Mars or to know the mystery of violence of volcanoes erupting unexpectedly on Jupiter’s moon? Who knew that Moon was a ‘rock’ that never shined on its own. All it began millions of years ago when something mysterious happened which resulted in galaxies, solar systems, and a living planet. The “Big Bang” theory is just one of the several theories for the origin of the universe. From then the Universe is ‘expanding’. Expanding in a sense everything is moving away from each other. It happened when a huge explosion took place. An enormous substance exploded and the tiny particles moved away from each other as a result of energy. The explanation is the "dark energy" that permeates it throughout, pushing it to expand.

To be more clear, take a balloon and make some black dots on it with the help of a marker. Now, as you inflate the balloon, the dots move farther away from the home dot and each other. The results show that the farther away a dot is from the home dot, the faster its movement. This is an example by Hubble. One limiting thing is the surface of the balloon (where you drew the dots) is two-dimensional, while the universe is three-dimensional. The big question that arises here is if the balloon keeps expanding will it explode? And also if it discontinues its motion, will everything shrink? YES, it will!! But in the case of the Universe, there’s something that is holding the universe, managing its time of expanding. Our universe is expanding in a rapid motion, in its own time! Well, what do you think time is? “Time is a distinction between Past, Present, and Future, but a stubborn illusion”, Einstein says. But is time universal? Is there any audible tick-tock throughout the galaxy, maybe a master clock? But, neither the time is not absolute nor the expansion is not absolute. The Universe isn't just expanding, but the expansion is accelerating over time. 

Half a millennium years ago, the universe was all sorted. Earth was the center of everything. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars rose itself and circled the earth at no great distance. Those tiny stars were so-called ‘pure crystals’ things. Everything looked simple and the Universe seemed well known.

But, centuries passed and the scale of the solar system and of the universe expanded incredibly as a result of investigation and study. Copernican theory replaced the earth with the sun at the center of the solar system. The wandering lights(planets) became individual worlds. New discoveries in Physics and cosmology made it possible to analyze and even weigh distant stars. We have found a system of 100 billion stars and the galaxies in this universe. We discovered strange things and powerful energies that our eyes could never see. Robot spacecraft could fly past other worlds sending back the close pictures and videos that have brought distant planets closer to us.

There is a lot more to explore the unknown substances existing up there and down here. In 1957, the Space age started. We could pull back the gravity and cross the atmosphere of the earth.  Astronauts and machines could stand on other planets, study them at close range, and bring back samples to analyze on Earth. This was such an interesting mode of living life in the unknown universe.  We have sensed the turmoil in the huge, violent universe beyond incredible energies and fantastic objects such as quasars, pulsars, and black holes. Every time when I think of the Universe, I get lost in the mysteries that no one ever has solved here on the earth and end up thinking will everything end? And then my mind clicks some dialogues of some dramatic movies saying, ‘everything that started will come to an end’. Well, scientists have known only 4% of it and the rest will be a mystery.

In a short time, we have studied the universe with new discoveries, other planets have become individual familiar worlds that we can see and even touch. You will feel dumb when you start imagining stuff and theories made by some ancient scientists. Becoming an Astrophysicist is after all not an easy job to do. But once you devote your life to the universe, nothing will be impossible to achieve. You will be solving your mind mysteries on your own. So before hurting your brain cells thinking of the unsolved mysteries, make sure to gather some knowledge about the theories and applications of some subjects related to the study of the Universe and take a deep dive into the unknown UNIVERSE!


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What It Feels Like To Be Living In A Cage?
- Ashraya Banskota - 21104, Gra ... 10 August, 2020

Have you ever wondered what a tiger living in a cage in a zoo feels like? Because of the recent pandemic, you might say yes and that it’s not a good feeling rather it’s claustrophobic. It had become very difficult for people to go out and many people suffered and still are suffering from mental illness. According to a survey made in the UK, it was said that 10% of people who were quarantined, suffered from high depressive symptoms. It’s not only in the UK but it is all over the world. Whenever we go to the zoo, we never think about what animals are going through. They have been living in the cage for many years. With lots complaining about being in lockdown, moaning about being bored, unable to go anywhere, etc. just think of the millions, probably billions of animals that we’ve needlessly caged over the years. And zoos are one of them. Just for their own happiness, people have been separating the animals from their natural habitats. The only difference between a human and an animal is that humans can express their sorrow through dialogue whereas animals cannot. It’s not just humans that go through mental illness, but animals also suffer from it and they become depressed in life as they have no freedom to live. Also, scientists have proven that animals that are kept in cages become stressed, sick, and don't live as long.

How would you feel if you were also put into the cage, living the same life as billions of animals are living and spending your time all alone either with no family members or your friends?  How would you feel if you were in self-isolation? Angry, depressed, tired of your current life, and irritated, right? Think about the animals who have been isolated their entire lives. No living being should live in captivity. Animals also should have the freedom to live their lives. Instead of zoos, animals can be kept in wildlife sanctuaries; a place where animals do not have to sacrifice their natural habitat. Wildlife organizations these days promote wildlife sanctuaries more than zoos. The wild-life sanctuaries allow the animal to live in its natural way under the protection of the forest security guards.

There are also people who use animals for entertainment; circus. According to a survey, 96% of a circus animal’s life is spent in chains or cages. Tigers who usually fear fire are forced to perform stunts in a circus. Trainers also use whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools of the trade to force animals to perform. These kinds of ruthless behavior of some humans toward the animals should be strictly prohibited. Animals too have lives and forcing them to do something that will only affect the animal’s mental health. Sometimes, they may also attack humans because of cruel behavior. 

 Animals are the assets of our planet. They play an important role in the ecosystem. Even though they cannot express their feelings to us, we can at least be kind towards them. Keeping them in a cage and forcing them to live in a captive environment is very much unnecessary. Instead, we should make them live in their natural habitat so that they also can taste the feeling of freedom.  


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A Girl Is Born
- Sinja Ghimire - 21125, Grade ... 09 August, 2020

She was born in an exceedingly family wherever she thought of [is taken into account] a burden rather than a family wherever she ought to be considered as a divinity. She was treated in an unwell manner rather than being treated as a blessing. She was not given permission to education however was given permission to enter the room rather than being allowed to travel to high school and study. 

Every year over 5000 fetuses are killed before they are available to the globe once the oldsters realize they are girls. Such an act of killing the craniate is additionally referred to as feminine infanticide Some kids square measure born as their oldsters assume to kill them may be a sin however they don’t get as several privileges as boys do. Consistent with the UN agency, their square measures one hundred and five boys for each a hundred ladies. However, a landmark study that came into 2019, involving over seventy,000 ladies across the country UN agency gave birth in six of Nepal’s largest hospitals between 2015 and 2017, found that 117 boys were born for each a hundred ladies. The disappropriate quantitative relation was thanks to the abortion of ladies in an exceedingly Brobdingnagian proportion. the matter isn't solely seen in Nepal however in numerous Asian countries like India, China, Pakistan, etc.

The causes of feminine infanticide embrace economic condition, dower system that continues to be a gift in some components of Nepal and India, births to single ladies, unshapely infants, famine, lack of support services, and maternal diseases like postnatal depression. Another cause embraces the male dominant society gift within the nations. Doctors, whose aim is to save lots of the lives of individuals, gayly kill the craniate for a meager fifteen hundred and additional heart pain is that the undeniable fact that the aborted fetuses were fairly often fed to dogs. There square measure many clinics wherever such illegal activities square measure applied on a routine and in some cases, in connivance with politicians and policemen. 

Why is it happening? Is it an absence of awareness or the govt not creating and implement the strict laws? consistent with the Nepalese government with respect to feminine feticides, the Muluki own (Country Code) provides, nobody shall commit or cause to be committed an act to spot (determine) the gender of the craniate for the aim of committing the offense of abortion. an individual UN agency commits this offense shall be vulnerable to the penalty of imprisonment for a term starting from 3 months to 6 months. an individual UN agency commits, or causes to be committed, abortion upon distinctive the gender of the craniate shall be vulnerable to the penalty of imprisonment for a term starting from six months to 2 years. Finally, it states if a suit isn't filed on the matter of abortion inside 3 months of such abortion, the suit shall not be diverted. Implementation of the abortion law is guided by the National Abortion Policy 2002 and Safe Abortion Service Procedure, 2003(2060 BS) that guarantees access to safe and cheap abortion services to each lady while not discrimination.

                                                                                                           Reference: Himalayan times


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Social Media: Advantages and Disadvantages
- Princy Jaiswal - 21116, Grade ... 06 August, 2020

As we know, social media plays an important role in our life. Nowadays, everyone has used it. Simply we can say that Social media is a collective term for websites and applications, which focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, content sharing, and collaboration. There are different types of social media like Social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+), Microblogging (Twitter, Tumblr), Photo sharing (Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest), Video sharing (YouTube, Facebook Live, Periscope, Vimeo).

Like how there are always two sides to a coin, the same goes for social media different Nowadays because of these platforms, people are allowed to unite with each other across the distance. We are just one-touch way to get, connect with the entire world. Social media makes it easy for people to communicate and interact with each other anytime anywhere in the world. People can stay connected to their families and loved ones no matter how far they are from each other. Social media has made communication a lot easier than ever before. When we look at the positive aspect of social media, we find numerous advantages. The most important being a great device for education. All the information one requires is just a click away. Students can educate themselves on various topics using social media. Moreover, live lectures are now possible because of social media. You can attend a lecture happening in America while sitting in Nepal. More and more people are distancing themselves from newspapers; they are depending on social media for news. We can update on the latest happenings of the world through it. A person becomes more socially aware of the issues of the world.

Despite having such unique advantages, social media is considered one of the most harmful elements of society. It is harmful because it affects your privacy like never before. The oversharing happening on social media makes children a target for hackers. It also leads to cyberbullying, which affects any person significantly. Thus, the sharing on social media especially by children must be monitored at all times. Next up is the addition of social media, which is common amongst the youth. Students start wasting their time on social media instead of studying. Social media also creates communal rifts. Fake news is spread with the use of it, which poisons the mind of peace-loving citizens.

At last, we know social media has both advantages and disadvantages. However, it all depends on the user at the end. Excess use of anything is harmful and the same thing applies to social media. However, we have to be aware of how we use them. If we could use social media smartly, having social media will become a good change for us.


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Ayahuasca And Its Experience
- Srijal Ulak - 21117, Grade XI ... 05 August, 2020

Ayahuasca is a strongly hallucinogenic brew made from the leaves of the Psychotria Viridis shrub along with the stalks of the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, though other plants and ingredients can be added as well. Banisteriopsis caapi, also referred to as ayahuasca, jagube, caapi or yagé, maybe a South American liana of the Malpighiaceae. It is one half of ayahuasca, a decoction with a long history of its entheogenic use and its status as a “plant teacher” among the indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest. Ayahuasca isn’t illegal in many parts of the world even though it contains This drink was used for spiritual and religious purposes by ancient Amazonian tribes and is still used as a sacred beverage by some religious communities in Brazil and North America. The main ingredients of Ayahuasca — Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria Viridis — both have hallucinogenic properties. And contains N-dimethyltryptamine(DMT). DMT is a powerful hallucinogenic chemical. It’s strongly recommended that Ayahuasca only be taken when supervised by an experienced shaman, as those who take it needs to be looked after carefully, as an Ayahuasca trip leads to an altered state of consciousness that lasts for many hours. After consuming the Ayahuasca, most people start to feel its effects within 20–60 minutes. The effects are dose-dependent, and the trip can last 2–6 hours.

People react to Ayahuasca differently. Some experience euphoria and a feeling of enlightenment, while others go through severe anxiety and panic. It’s not uncommon for those taking Ayahuasca to experience both positive and negative effects from the brew. Typical effects include visual hallucinations, euphoria, paranoia, and vomiting. Ayahuasca may Benefit the health particularly brain health, which may improve psychological well-being, may help treat addiction, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). But as everything it also has side effects like it can interact with many medications and may worsen some medical conditions. It is used during certain religious rituals. It is also used as a medicine. Ayahuasca is employed for suicide prevention, depression, anxiety, panic, and symptoms associated with trauma. It is also used to control impulses, for sleep problems, pain, cancer, and to help people addicted to drugs and alcohol quit using them. It has been the focus of religious institutions for thousands of years and countless a number of peoples have died as a result of their beliefs about the divine. Unfortunately, these are often buried under mountains of tenet and misinterpretation. Ayahuasca shows something entirely different The plant medicine shows unequivocally there is a divinity in nature and is within human beings. The sensation of plant connecting to the body to the ground through some sort of cosmic lifeline. It takes the body and merges into the earth. All life is connected through the soil. It provides the nutrients and energy that all living things need to grow and it is our connection to all other beings. To understand how do we fit in with the natural world we must observe how the earth recycles itself and distributes energy among its inhabitants. Believing that all things can be broken down into their component pieces and that all life can be understood by looking at chemical reactions. In spite of these chemical reactions, there is a vital energies force that drives all life and links one organism to another. Many religions would refer to such a connection as the “soul” but often focus on the connection between individual human beings, and a divine figure that is external to our physical bodies. The connection that we have to all other creatures on the planet is equally important. Indeed, under the influence of ayahuasca, it shows clearly there is no distinction between these two. Our connection to nature is our connection to the divine. Ayahuasca also highlights sensitivity to sound, taste, and smell and gives a renewed sense of the energy that we consume when we eat plants and animals. It showed me that this process is both material and spiritual and that it is our responsibility to interact with other plants and animals in a way that respects their life and ours. If we look closely and critically at many religions we can find at least an acknowledgment of this connection among many doctrines, but it is not always a focal point of religious doctrine because of the cultural tendency in many places to see ourselves as separate from nature.

 I would not claim to understand the divine any more than anyone else and I know that my life will be continued being a realization and culmination of practicing this connection that exists between all things in nature. Ayahuasca provides a very tangible, unforgettable view of this divine connection. Every time you take Ayahuasca, it results in a different experience. Over time, using ayahuasca may result in psychosis, frequent flashbacks, and hallucinations. These symptoms may occur for months or even years after using the drug. This condition is known as persistent psychosis.


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Animal Abuse And Cruelty
- Shruti Pokhrel - 21124, Grade ... 04 August, 2020

Animals are the real victims on this earth. They didn’t declare war, they don’t have weapons, and they don’t want to destroy humans, or impose religion. Their only “crime” is that they exist.

-   Amina Tharwat Abaza

Animals feel pain, sorrow, and joy like we people but why are animals treated the way they are? As they cannot speak for themselves, it doesn’t mean they can’t feel. Their eyes speak up everything but we are so self-obsessed that we never try to look at them and understand what they’re feeling and going through. Talking about animal abuse and cruelty towards them, it is said that every 60 seconds, an animal gets abused. Animal abuse is pervasive and entrenched all over the world. Even though it is an inhumane act, we so-called human beings, don’t bother standing against it.

Just imagine if you were the animal being tested on, being kept in a cage given the little amount of food just enough to stay alive and being experimented. Does it feel right? Surely no. This is what animals in the testing center go through.

In the case of Nepal, there is no proper animal welfare legislation. Everywhere we go, we can find a large number of stray dogs roaming here and there. Pets that have become sick and shown some aggressive behaviors are easily discarded and later they are called ‘street dogs’. Moreover, cows, our national animals are regarded as holy but we can find many cattle abandoned in the busy streets of the city. There are thousands of horses, donkeys, and mules in the mountains and terai who are beaten, abused, overloaded, underfed, and made to work until death. It is all because of a lack of enforceable legislation and public awareness.

We all might have heard about Gadimai Mela in Bara district where pilgrims from India and Nepal assemble every five years to offer mass animal sacrifice in gratitude for their wishes being fulfilled. In 2019, the festival was held on November 28 and 29 where about 500,000 animals were brutally slaughtered in the name of a goddess. It was reported that the number of animals sacrificed in 2019 was less than in previous years. While many activists are against this practice and claim that it is not necessary to sacrifice animals rather they can offer fruits and sweets with full devotion to the goddess. It just can’t be understood how a genuine god or goddess can be appeased by inflicting pain and suffering in other living beings. This land is regarded as sacred and the birthplace of Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha, who regarded peace and non-violence as the cardinal virtues and taught the world the power of kindness, generosity, and non-violence. We take great pride in Gautam Buddha being born in Nepal but never bother to understand Buddhist principles and its teachings regarding cruelty and violence.

None of us is unaware of the fact that animals do possess animal rights and there are certain things that human beings should not do to animals but as usual, although being educated we like to remain ignorant. Let us not go up to rights also, what about morality? Abusing someone and causing pain is inherently wrong and unethical. There is one saying by a famous cat veterinarian Louis J. Camuti, ‘Never believe that animals suffer less than humans. Pain is the same for them that it is for us. Even worse, because they cannot help themselves.’

As we share common land, human beings and animals should be sharing a cordial relationship. Once we all stand against such inhumane acts, those who can’t speak for themselves would get a voice. If we do not fix animal abuse or animal cruelty soon we will have no more animals in the future. Governments should make sure that animals are not being abused and should make strict laws and enforce them against those who try to violate them. Animals should not be abused and the rights they deserve must be given to them.


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Acid Attack
- Sinja Ghimire - 21125, Grade ... 03 August, 2020

My face burns. I can’t breathe. I feel like a tyre’s burning and it stinks. She cried for help. She was just a 14-year-old girl. She was thrown acid in her face. She hadn’t even begun her life. Her mistake was to ignore a man twice her age. Yes, you read it correctly “twice her age”. 

Today many cases of acid attack are reported in many parts of the world especially in developing countries. Out of all attacks, 80% are females and the remaining are male. The country like Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia has the highest number of cases.  The acid attack causes various health and mental issues. Some long term problems are blindness, burning of eyes, and some permanent scar on the face. Between 1999 and 2013, a total of 3,512 Bangladeshi people were acid attacked with the rate of cases declining by 15%-20% every year since 2002 based on strict legislation against perpetrators and regulation of acid sales In India, acid attacks are at an all-time high and increasing every year with 250-300 reported incidents every year while the "actual number could exceed 1,000, according to Acid Survivors' Trust International".The UK has one of the highest rates of acid attacks per capita in the world.

The most common reasons for attacks on women and girls is the refusal of marriage, the denial of sex, and the sexual rejection of men and boys. Some other causes include hate towards the opposing gender, some past revenge, etc. So, the most frequently asked question is “is there any treatment?”.The most important thing a person can do in the event of an acid attack is to douse the victim in running water, rather than use a wet cloth. The water dilutes the acid, and so it's important to keep refreshing with new, clean water, as quickly as possible. Victims should go through multiple surgeries as a part of the treatment. Some surgeries are not even affordable for the middle class and lower-class families.

On August 17, 2018, the government passed the bill for acid attackers. Section 193 of the bill states, “If a person throws acid at a person or uses any chemical substance to attack a person in a manner to cause serious harm or disfigure the victim, the perpetrator shall be awarded five to eight years in jail depending on the gravity of the offense and fined Rs 100,000 to Rs 300,000. The fine imposed on the perpetrator shall be provided to the survivor.” In case of the death of the victim in such an attack, the perpetrator will face murder charges.

Acid attacks can be prevented when there are strict laws made by the government on the sale of acid and fine charges for people buying and selling acids.

                                                                         (Reference: The Himalayan Times and Wikipedia)


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Not Everything Is Contained In Books
- Benit Shrestha - 21105, Grade ... 02 August, 2020

Did you know in the USA, about 32 billion trees are cut down every year to manufacture books? In the past, there were no alternatives other than books to gain knowledge from and this narrowed down the learning process. However, the application of virtual and conceptual means like the internet and life-experiences respectively is a more productive way of acquiring knowledge; rather than, sticking to plain-old books. 

In contrast to books, the Internet is a far superior way of gathering credible information on a vast range of topics. A book has only the limited insight of the author; whereas, the internet is open to opinions and suggestions from a large crowd of individuals with different ideas. In addition to this, books are just compressed-textual embodiments of the human mind but experiencing reality first-hand is a more practical way of gaining an understanding. And in the end, no book can likely rival the knowledge acquired from real-life.

If we were to weigh the entire internet, its weight would come to be around 5gm. But the process of collecting books and maintaining them, with time will start to be a burden for most people. Similarly, things learned from exposure to real-life get stored in our brains that possess near to infinite holding-capacity. So, hoarding books and trying to learn whatever is feasible from them isn’t a productive thing to do. Especially, when there is an abundance of alternative ways of learning. For instance, in various parts of the world, we come across individuals who are highly skilled at doing something; even though they never had access to any books. This goes to show that the information limited within books doesn’t even hold a candle, in comparison, to the highly sophisticated knowledge of one’s imagination and experience. 

Books are written mostly in the mother-language of the author and generally translated in English as a means to appeal to an international audience, but what about the people who don’t have fluency in English. In regard to this problem, the widespread availability of the Internet is a big relief for such people all over the world. With the use of translation software available on the web, anyone with internet access can get their hands on any form of literature as well as books of all subjects that can be read with easy understanding. Hence, the internet introduces us to a variety of things to study and learn from. 

To sum it up, books as important as they may seem only to hold a fraction of what other far practical and technological sources of knowledge can offer. Therefore, one mustn’t only swim in the shallow pond of books but should try to dive deep in the abyss of real-life experience and the internet.


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Time Travel
- Samip Adhikari - 21119, Grade ... 30 July, 2020

We all wonder if we could move from one point to another, as such sitting in some type of vessel or a vehicle. That would be more sort of fun and quite interesting for our present generations that always dreamed of going to the past or moving back to the future. Hold on, time travel is much more complicated than we think when we are ready to take a new adventure.

If we see the Relativity theory of the Late Scientist Albert Einstein, we get to know the connection between space and time. We all know light travels at the greatest speed but some scientist believes time does. Much research in the past also showed that the time clock on an airplane is behind the clock on the ground. This seems quite interesting to know that time travels at a different speed. Meanwhile, the absence of gravity above the earth causes the clock of the satellite to travel faster. Many of us even had heard the word dilation. It must have been the effect of time they travel back to earth younger than their twins. Were they in time travel?WhoKnows?

Cosmic Strings, Infinite cylinder, Black Hole, and Time Machines draw many conclusions and theories on time travel. While the cosmic string is believed to bend space-time between two parallel strings under such configuration that might make time travel real, an Infinite cylinder is said to roll masses 10 times bigger than the sun into the very long but very dense cylinder forming a spiral around it that might take us into time travel. Another black hole theory is most mysterious of all the time when we know it has been absorbing all lights and nobody knows where this light travels into. Can we travel into the future getting into a black hole? Well, nobody has tried this yet. Well, we all dream of making a Time Machine to go back and forth. Moving a time machine at different speeds might be possible but it's a long way for scientists and physicists to go around.

Taking a note on this, it might seem another big achievement for this generation but it might prove to be equally fatal for human civilization. For now, we can only end up with different assumptions and theories.


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What Exactly Is Infinity?
- Anil Banjade - 21103, Grade X ... 29 July, 2020

Two things are infinite: The Universe and Human Stupidity. And I’m not sure about the Universe.  -Albert Einstein

In our life, we go through one question “Which is the largest number?” We are introduced to the number system at the age of 5. With time, we learn to count to a hundred, thousand, million, billion, and trillion. But the question is “Do the numbers end?”  At the School level, we are introduced to the term “infinity” and you might have seen it in Maths and Physics. If I ask you what exactly is infinity you will rather give me a symbol or you might say it’s a number which can’t be counted and many wouldn’t want to hurt your brain. We often see infinity in Maths and subconsciously, we know numbers are taught in Mathematics. So we assume infinity as a number but it’s not exactly a number.

Infinity is a concept.  Infinity is an idea. Infinity is a thought. Infinity is endless. In Maths, Zero and infinity don’t have physical significance. Zero means it does not exist and infinity means the concept that is endless, unlimited, and unbound. We often imagine a train traveling on and on and we consider it as infinity but actually it is not infinity. Just imagine something endless or boundless which has no reason to stop. There is a common misconception that infinities are big only but they can be small too. For Eg: Numbers between 1 and 2. So, It’s not necessary that infinity should be big. 

Infinity has been a topic to discuss from Ancient Greek. Zeno of Elea who is known for the creation of paradoxes has a paradox named “Zeno paradox of Zeno dichotomy paradox” is one of the mind-bending paradoxes to understand infinity. In his paradox, he has told how a Greek famous Hercules cannot defeat a turtle in a race. It basically says that if there are two points A and B and the distance between them is 1m then you can never travel that distance. Infinite time is required to travel that 1m distance. This paradox has been useful to understand infinity and with the help of it, many people started giving their ideas.

Pythagoras believed in the sequence of whole numbers and later his own theory proved him wrong because when you take height and base 1 in a right-angled triangle its hypotenuse is root 2 which is irrational. Then come Aristotle and Plato who believed in potential infinity rather than actual infinity and in the modern age of Physics and Mathematics Georg Cantor has described infinity in his own way which is widely accepted. 

Infinities are used in Mathematics and Physics which are also classified into Mathematical Infinities and Physical Infinities and Metaphysical infinities. Mathematical infinities include irrational numbers whereas Physical infinities include thought like infinite space-time, etc. Infinities are divided into countable and uncountable infinity. The fun fact is countable infinity can’t be counted. They are the set in which elements could be theoretically counted though the end would never reach and uncountable infinities are like irrational numbers like the value of pi.

The challenge for modern physicists to understand this vast UNIVERSE is to discover the infinity-free equations which follow the true law of physics. In this search of GRAND UNIFIED THEORY, We need to first question infinity and figure it out to understand this Elegant Universe.


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